East Lyme commission comes up with sewage capacity for housing plan

East Lyme - Under an order from a judge in an appeals case, the Water and Sewer Commission determined Tuesday the specific sewage capacity it would grant a proposed residential complex in the Oswegatchie Hills.

The commission said it would allow Middletown-based Landmark Development 13,000 gallons per day of sewage capacity. That capacity is less than the 118,000 gallons per day the company had originally requested for its proposed residential development with affordable housing units.

Landmark, under developer Glenn Russo, has been appealing the commission's December 2012 decision to deny its request for the 118,000 gallons for the planned development. The company has been applying to develop part of the hills along the Niantic River for more than a decade and has appealed several town rulings on its applications.

A state Superior Court judge in the sewage capacity case, heard in New Britain court last month, directed the commission to clarify, with a specific figure, the capacity it would allow for the proposed development in the hills.

In deliberations on Tuesday, the commission examined documents, including a 2005 map showing proposed allocations of sewage capacity in town. The commission wasn't allowed to consider any evidence beyond what was presented in public hearings held in 2012.

In 2012, the commission ruled that Landmark's sewage request for 118,000 gallons per day would claim between 52 percent and 90 percent of the town's remaining sewage capacity, which it said was a disproportionately large amount. The commission had calculated that the town had between 130,000 to 225,000 gallons per day of remaining sewage capacity, based on two different methods of calculation.

East Lyme can send up to 1.5 million gallons of sewage daily to New London, which treats it.

The commission will next hold a special meeting on March 11 to officially approve a resolution on the sewage capacity, which will be presented to the judge by March 17.